The present invention relates to a nestable and stackable tray for transporting and storing articles. More particularly, the invention relates to trays having a mechanism for easily adjusting the distance between the floors of trays which are nested or stacked. By adjusting the distance between the floors of nested or stacked trays, the trays can be selectively made to stack at different heights to thereby accommodate articles of different heights. The empty trays can also be nested to accommodate differently sized articles.
Although numerous uses are contemplated, the present invention is particularly advantageous for the transport and storage of bread loaves and buns and similar articles where the articles themselves cannot be used to support the weight of trays stacked alone, for fear of damaging the articles. This type of stackable tray is significantly different from stackable trays wherein the articles in one tray support the trays above it, such as typical trays for carrying cans or bottles.
An example of a prior art stacking and cross-nesting tray is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,675,815 to Rehrig which is assigned to the same assignee as the present application, and the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
Another example of a prior art stacking and nesting tray is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,451 to Apps which is also assigned to the same assignee as the present application, and the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. Apps discloses a multi-level stacking/nesting tray having an interlocking stacking leg/slot configuration. A plurality of slots are arranged parallel to one another on the outsides of the end walls of the tray. The slots are also configured so that the terminating point of each of the slots of a particular group lies substantially along the same vertical line, The slots receive stacking legs which extend from the exterior surface of the end walls of the tray at the location of the slots and are configured to permit insertion of the legs into the slots of another tray. The slots have progressively lower terminating points to permit varying levels of stacking.
Although Apps provides different stacking levels, the aligning and inserting of the legs into the correct slots may not be accomplished as quickly as desired, especially if the user is hurried. Moreover, since slots corresponding to the same level are vertically aligned, if a stack of trays having different levels is formed by inserting successive stacking legs into different groups of slots, the stack would not be perfectly vertically aligned and therefore may lose some stability. In other words, if a single stack of trays includes successive trays which are nested, stacked at the highest level and stacked at intermediate levels, the trays would not be vertically aligned. A stack of trays as taught by Apps would only be perfectly aligned vertically if the same group of slots is used in each and every tray in the stack thus preventing differently sized articles from being stored in successive trays in a stack.